Australian Funnel Web Spiders have been considered as the most deadly spiders in the world, and as the temperature rises up in Australia, these little creatures are up to the surface again - giving a great risk on those innocent Aussies out to enjoy the warm weather.
People will be inclined to kill them as a first reaction, due to its known danger. But the Australian Reptile Park, which specializes in creating anti-venoms for spider and snake bites, was asking for reconsideration and temper check, as the Funnel Web Spiders are an essential key to creating the anti-venoms that have immensely helped the spider bite victims for the past three decades.
The Australian Funnel-Web Spiders, or Atracinae, are found mostly on the eastern coast of Australia, and a few miles from Sydney. They make lidless burrows that resemble a funnel (hence, the name) common in the suburbs. The bites could be fatal within an hour and could result in excessive sweating, convulsions, and severe abdominal pains in some cases, and without the anti-venom, victims could die in an hour. However, since the introduction of the modern anti-venom, the death due to the bites have lessen to almost none.
Techniques and precautions have been issued for awareness and careful trapping of the spider, which to just coax or guide them using a stick or tweezers into glass jar or case, as the spiders cannot climb on smooth surfaces. Be careful not to touch the spider and close the jar with enough air holes or ample breathing space and bring them to the Australian Reptile Park for collection.
So far, they still need a couple hundreds of these to make enough stocks of anti-venom. This is very important to prevent or completely abolish deaths due to the bites and to save more lives.
